Compulsion
by PJ XD
Summary: A strange phenomenon is sweeping Hogwarts, Rose Weasley suspects some dark magic is involved. With her friends remaining unconvinced, Rose teams up with an unlikely ally to get to the root of the problem -Scorpius Malfoy. Tensions run high with family & friends as the two grow closer. Rose may have to make a decision - the enigmatic Slytherin, or the people she loves most? RW/SM NG


**Chapter One**

* * *

"Mr Potter, Miss Weasley, will you _pay attention_!"

Rose and Albus froze as Professor Vector's voice snapped sharply through the quiet classroom. Instead of studying their arithmancy problems, as they were supposed to be doing, the pair had been surreptitiously engaging in an all-out war in which one of them attempted to pelt the other with as many Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as they could before Vector turned back around from the blackboard.

This time, Rose hadn't quite managed to land her hit before she was caught. It had flown wide, hitting Alice Longbottom in the eye. Her resultant shriek had been what tipped Professor Vector off to their behaviour.

"Sorry, Professor," Al said. It looked to Rose like he was working hard to keep his expression under control. Albus rarely got in trouble. He was a conscientious student, and made a great deal of effort in all of his classes. Rose, on the other hand… well, she attracted mischief like white clothing attracts dirt. In her six years of Hogwarts, she'd lost track of the amount of detentions she'd been given.

"Miss Weasley, do you have anything you wish to say?" The professor surveyed her with a piercing blue glare. Rose turned to Alice, who was nursing a red and swollen eye. She did her best to school her features into a look of contrition, but, truthfully, she found the whole thing pretty funny. "Sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to get you."

Alice gave her a thin smile in response. "It's okay."

Apparently mollified, Professor Vector resumed whatever she'd been droning on about. After shooting a grin at Albus, Rose tuned out. She had no idea why she'd even bothered with Arithmancy as a subject. Probably, she thought darkly, because her mother had cajoled her into it.

Although Rose was ten shades smarter than most of the people in her year, she had no patience when it came to academics. Where was the overall life lesson in memorizing these charts? How could reading someone's tea leaves possibly serve her in the real world? She'd often voiced those opinions at home. While her mother had agreed with her about the merits (or lack thereof) of tea leaves, she'd shouted Rose down when it came to the benefits of academia in general. Of course, Rose would've expected nothing less from the great Hermione Weasley.

By the time the class was dismissed, Rose couldn't wait to get out of there. She snatched her bag from the floor and unceremoniously swept her books into it, upsetting a pot of ink in the process. Hastily, she wiped her stained hands on her robes, thankful that the dark blue ink didn't really show up on the black material. It didn't get it all off though – her fingers would be blue for days.

_Great. Just great_, she thought sarcastically.

Albus caught her up when she was halfway down the corridor, an amused grin curving his mouth upwards. "Where's the fire, Rosie Posie?"

Rose scowled. He knew how much she hated that childhood nickname – he only did it to annoy her.

"I can't believe I ever thought taking Arithmancy was a good idea," she grumbled, hitching her bag further up her shoulder when it was in danger of slipping.

"Aw, c'mon Rosie," Al clapped a hand on her shoulder. As the better half of the beater duo for the Gryffindor team, he sometimes didn't know his own strength, and Rose found herself being buffeted forwards a few steps. "Oops. Sorry. But you know that you'd be great at Arithmancy if you tried."

"Yeah, but Al, that's not the point. I…" She trailed off at the bewildered look on his face. Albus, for all he was her cousin and closest friend, sometimes just didn't 'get' Rose the way she wished he would. "You know what? Never mind."

She skirted around a classroom door as it was flung open wide, and a trail of students meandered out. Rose halted her progress when she heard someone call her name.

"Oi, Rose!"

Flipping her long, red waves over one shoulder, she turned to appraise her summoner. Immediately, she spotted the wild dark hair and lightly tanned skin of seventh year Malachi Finnigan.

Rose instantly struck a flirtatious pose, one hand on her hip. Some guys, she thought, you flirt with just for the sake of flirting. Malachi was one of those guys that you flirted with in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him. He was cute. Really cute. "Oi, yourself, Finnigan."

He stopped just a couple of paces short of her, propping himself up against the wall and surveying her with brown eyes a few shades lighter than Rose's own. Rose's eyes were the colour of dark chocolate. His were more like coffee with milk. "Break any hearts today, gorgeous?" he teased.

"Why, are you offering?" Rose grinned at him, her mood definitely on the upswing. His eyes raked over her from head to toe. The Weasley genes had left her with cascades of fiery hair and creamy skin. She had her mother's eyes, and a slender but curvaceous build that she wasn't sure which side of her family tree could claim credit for. Either way, Rose knew that she looked good.

"Maybe sometime," Malachi answered, flashing her a grin of his own. "Although I think your cousins would hex me if I tried anything."

As he spoke, James emerged behind him from the same classroom. He raised his ebony eyebrows at Rose questioningly, a look which she pointedly ignored.

"Let them have a go," Rose scoffed. "Are you saying it wouldn't be worth it?"

He considered, and apparently decided that it would be worth it, because he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "The astronomy tower at midnight?"

"I might take you up on that." She shot him a wink, and began to walk away.

"Rose?" he called after her. She paused again.

"Yeah?"

"Is that a yes?"

Putting on her best enigmatic smile, Rose glanced over her shoulder. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Al shook his head ruefully as she strode past him, unhitching himself from the wall where he'd been waiting for her to finish up her conversation. "I will never understand how it is that you do that."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rose replied airily, making a show of examining her fingernails.

"Wrap guys around your little finger with a hair toss and a few choice words."

She raised her eyebrows at her cousin. "Hark who's talking." Albus was widely considered the most dateable guy in their year, and by quite a wide margin. Intelligent, handsome and a Quidditch star, he had girls lining up to hang onto his every word. Not to mention the added attraction of his last name.

"Yeah," Al hedged. "But that's different. I don't toy with people's emotions for my own amusement."

That, unfortunately, was the truth. For all his appeal, Al remained fairly shy when it came to the fairer sex. It had taken him until fifth year to work up the nerve to ask his girlfriend to Hogsmeade, and he'd been monogamously dating her ever since.

"You're being all judgemental again," Rose pointed out. "Why am I not entitled to have a bit of fun?"

"I'm not saying that," he argued, opening the door at the end of the corridor and stepping back to allow his cousin to pass first. Never let it be said that Albus Potter wasn't a gentleman. "I'm just saying… you don't want to end up with a reputation."

Rose rounded on him, and he flinched under the heat of her glare. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

To his credit, he didn't back down. "I think you know, Rose."

She glared at him for a few more seconds before deciding that she wanted to change the subject. Rose supposed that she could've ended his judgemental tirade by admitting that – for all her flirting – her virginity was still firmly in her possession, but she didn't bother. It wasn't anyone else's business what she did, after all. And, besides, what was a bit of snogging here and there? It was harmless.

"So, do you know what you're doing for Halloween on Saturday?" she asked as they made their way down the grand staircase. "Are you going to that party in the Slytherin common room?"

Al considered. "Maybe. I'm not sure. Phineas said it would be a laugh, but I heard that Emily Rookwood spiked the drinks with something last year that made everyone grow antlers."

Rose choked on a laugh. "In that case, you should definitely go. I've always wondered what you'd look like with antlers."

"Ha ha."

"In all seriousness, though… you should show your face. I'm going."

"You are?" Albus looked astonished. "You never bother with Slytherin parties."

"That's not true." Although, if Rose was being perfectly honest, he had a point. She didn't tend to socialise with members of Slytherin house. It wasn't anything personal to them, not exactly. It was just that she'd never bothered to get to know any of them well enough to enjoy herself there. "Anyway, Arya asked me if I'd go. I said yes."

Arya Albright was arguably Rose's best friend. She was muggle-born, and almost as pretty as Rose herself, which meant that she hadn't been too intimidated by her to remain friends through puberty, like the rest of the Gryffindor girls in their year.

Albus looked indignant for a moment. "Arya never asked me."

"She probably just assumed," Rose replied with a shrug. Arya, in addition to being Rose's best friend, was also the aforementioned girlfriend of a certain Potter. "You have loads of friends in Slytherin."

That was probably down to her uncle Harry's inclusive policy towards all the Hogwarts houses. He'd instilled it in his children from an early age. Her own father, on the other hand… not so much.

Al and Rose reached the Entrance Hall, and joined the throng of students heading towards the Great Hall. The sound of high-pitched shrieks drifted back to them from nearer the front of the queue, which was at a near standstill. Rose stood on tiptoe to see the source of the commotion. It didn't take long to spot what, or rather, who, was causing the hold-up. Further up in the crowd, Peeves was entertaining himself by pelting first years with stolen chalk from one of the classrooms.

She settled back onto her heels with a laugh. "You'd think they'd learn to carry books as shields. We did."

Her cousin gave her a reproachful look that he'd taken right out of her mother's playbook. "Would it kill you to be a bit nicer?"

Rose pretended to think about it. "Yep. It actually might."

Al rolled his eyes. "Typical."

A hand on her shoulder diverted Rose's attention from the witty comeback she'd been about to utter. She turned to find a small brunette standing at her side. Her pretty face was lined with worry, blue eyes dark and serious.

All thoughts of unfortunate first years were driven from Rose's mind.

"What's the matter, Arya?" It was Albus who asked the question first, reaching for his girlfriend's hand. She threaded her fingers through his, giving him a tight smile before refocusing on the both of them.

"It's Ryan. He's in the hospital wing."

"What? What happened?" Rose and Al chorused sharply. Arya pulled a face.

"Darius Millingsworth went crazy in Ancient Runes. He jumped up and started screaming at everyone, and when Ryan went to calm him down, he just started pummelling him. Ryan was unconscious by the time Jocelyn and Phineas managed to pull Darius off him."

"Is he okay?" Albus demanded.

Arya nodded. "Yeah, Madam Pomfrey is fixing him up now. He should be fine in a couple of hours."

Rose exhaled a breath in relief. Ryan Thomas was a fellow Gryffindor and a good friend of hers – she hated the idea of him getting hurt. "Did Darius say why he did it?"

Arya's smooth brow wrinkled. "That's the thing. He claims not to remember any of it."

Rose scoffed. "Please! He just doesn't want to get into trouble."

Her friend looked thoughtful for a moment, chewing down on her bottom lip. "No, I don't think so. You've got to admit, Rosie, it's pretty out of character for Darius to act that way."

Rose wasn't inclined to admit anything – outrage was still burning in her chest like a flame. However, when she cooled down enough to stop and think about it, she realised that Arya was right. Darius was known to be a placid and friendly person, hardly capable of unprovoked violence.

The three eventually made it into the Great Hall, ducking flying chalk as they went. A little way up the Gryffindor table, Rose saw Molly and Fred. They had their heads bent together in earnest conversation. Rose wondered exactly what kind of scheme they were concocting this time. Whatever it was, she prayed that she wouldn't be involved.

James jogged past, swatting Albus on the back of the head as he went. He sat down next to Fred, but not before shooting Rose a warning look. She sighed. Clearly, she'd be in for another Potter lecture about Malachi before the day was through.

Arya spotted Alice Longbottom a few seats further along, and slid onto the vacant bench space beside her. Rose and Albus seated themselves opposite them, and Rose saw, with a twinge of guilt, that Alice's eye still looked aggrieved and watery from the Bertie-Bott's-Bean assault in Arithmancy.

"How's the eye?" Al asked, as Rose helped herself to some roast potatoes.

"It's fine." Alice smiled wanly at the pair of them. "Except maybe next time you'll be a bit more careful."

"'orry, A'ice," Rose attempted to say through a mouthful of food. Al shot her a disgusted look.

"Honestly, can you not talk with your mouth full, please? You're worse than Uncle Ron."

"No 'm not!" Rose protested, accidentally spraying her cousin with potato. He looked at her as if to say 'point proved'.

She was spared the indignity of more comments from Albus by the arrival of a newly-healed Ryan. He had always reminded Rose of her cousin Fred – they both had the same mocha-coloured skin and curly black hair – except for the eyes. Ryan's eyes were a very, very light green. It was a nice juxtaposition to the rest of his colouring, she thought.

Rose put down the piece of lamb chop that she had just skewered with her fork. She now had more pressing concerns than eating.

"Hey, Ry. What the hell happened in Ancient Runes?"

Ryan's smile was rueful. "You heard, then?"

"It seems that way." Rose propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her hands as she leaned closer. "Come on, spill. Why would Darius want to knock you into next week? Did you sleep with his girlfriend or something?"

Ryan laughed, shaking his head at her. "Rose, seriously? You think I'd do something like that?"

Rose chewed her lip, feeling a little embarrassed. "No. Sorry. But then, why?"

"That's the thing." A troubled look crossed his face. "I don't know. It was really strange – I mean he was fine one minute, and the next… totally crazy. I'd say someone cursed him, but I don't know of any curses that could make people just flip like that."

"Maybe he's just gone cray-cray," Alice offered, sipping from her pumpkin juice. Rose couldn't help but wince when she looked at her. Her eye looked just as angry as it had when they'd sat down to eat. It was definitely going to leave a mark. "It happens."

Rose frowned. She'd heard of people going crazy, but never quite so drastically. "Well, I'm not so sure about that. My money would be on the curse theory."

"But, Rose, you heard what Ryan said, there aren't any…"

She cut Alice off. "No, what Ryan said was that he hadn't heard of any curses that could do that. It's still logically possible that there could be. Right?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "I suppose…"

"There you are, then." Satisfied with her sound conclusion, Rose began ladling more carrots onto her plate. "I bet McGonagall will get to the bottom of it in no time."

Lily arrived then, sliding into the vacant space beside Rose. Lily looked glummer than she'd seen her in a while, staring off at nothing in particular. Rose laid one hand gently on her shoulder in an attempt to bring her back down to earth. "Lil?"

She jumped. "What? Oh, hey, Rosie." Her face immediately fell back into her previous morose expression.

"What's up?" Rose leaned closer and lowered her voice, though that wasn't strictly necessary now that the others had engaged themselves in a lively discussion about the upcoming Halloween festivities. "You seem really down."

Lily pulled a face. The two girls could have been sisters, with their identical colouring and similar builds. In fact, people had often commented that Lily looked like the fourteen-year-old version of Rose. The difference was in their attitudes. Rose was snarky and flirty, with a penchant for trouble. Lily, taking something from each of her two namesakes, had a sunny, kind and intriguingly offbeat nature. It was incredibly out of character to see her with a frown on her face.

"I'm okay."

"No, you aren't. You're upset about something. You've got a lousy poker face." Rose adopted a more sympathetic tone. She usually had trouble with that, but when it came to Lily, it took no effort at all. She'd always been protective of her. "You can tell me anything, you know."

"I know," she said, dredging up a smile that looked as though it took a lot of effort. "But, honestly, I'm okay. You don't need to worry."

Dubious, but accepting that she didn't want to discuss it any further, Rose gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze and returned to the others' conversation. Arya and Alice were debating what to dress up as, while the boys looked on in amusement.

"Fairies?" Alice suggested.

"Like, the muggle idea, or the real kind? Because we'd need shrinking solution for that…" Arya trailed off, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"I suppose. That'd be a lot of effort. How about vampires? I think I have some white stage makeup in my trunk."

"I think the theme is famous witches and wizards," Ryan chipped in. "I've always wanted to dress up as Gryffindor."

"That's easy, then," Al said, smirking. "I'll just go as my dad."

"You can't do that, that's cheating!" Arya protested, jabbing him in the side. "You won't even need to dress up."

"What? I'll draw a scar on. That counts."

"That does not count, and you know it!"

Rose watched their good-natured bickering unfold with amusement, pondering her own costume. She was vacillating between Morgana and Cassandra the Seer when an idea struck her suddenly.

"Hey, Al," she interjected, cutting Arya off mid-flow. "Why don't you dress up as Dumbledore?"

"That," Arya said, shooting her an impressed look. "Is a great idea."

"I suppose I could," Albus agreed, finishing off his last mouthful of food. "I mean, I was named after him and everything. Seems only fitting."

"Or you could go as Snape," Ryan suggested with a grin.

"Sure," Al grinned back. "Just grease my hair up a bit and wear a load of black. Job done."

The pair of them erupted in sniggers, and were still cracking jokes about it as the rest of the group finished up dinner and made their way back to the common room.

* * *

The evening played out in pretty much the same routine as it always did. They claimed their corner by the fire, and Alice settled down to do homework while Rose and Arya snuggled into a couple of armchairs to watch the boys play a mammoth game of chess. They became Ryan and Al's personal cheerleaders respectively, egging them on and suggesting strategic moves in loud voices that couldn't have done much for their concentration. After a while, Alice grew tired of the cacophony, and declared that she was turning in for the night. She disappeared upstairs, half-finished homework in hand.

Not long afterwards, Ryan won the game. He and Rose broke out into a stupid victory dance that caused the other two to dissolve into hysterics, and they were still laughing as the common room emptied around them. Arya was the next to go to bed, followed by Ryan ten minutes later. That left Rose and Al.

As a matter of fact, they were the only two people left in the entire common room by that point. Rose sprawled across her armchair, feet dangling over one end as she twirled a quill between her fingers distractedly. Al was stretched out in front of the fire like a cat, staring into the flickering flames, when he said something that jerked Rose out of her own thoughts.

"Rosie, did you notice how weird Lily was being at dinner?"

She bit her lip. "I did, actually."

"Did she tell you what was wrong with her?"

"No." Putting the quill in her mouth, she sucked on the tip of the peacock feather thoughtfully. "She didn't want to talk about it, and I wasn't going to push her. But she seemed… I don't know. Sad?"

"I wonder… do you reckon it has something to do with a boy?" The grimace on his face told Rose exactly what his opinion of that possibility was. "Like, maybe some guy has hurt her feelings?"

"It could be," she replied slowly. "I mean, she's dead pretty. It would make sense if she was dating someone."

"I don't like it," Al said darkly. "Especially if that someone has hurt her in any way." He twisted around to face her, his expression hopeful. "Do you think you can get her to talk to you? I'm worried."

"Probably," she admitted. "But even if I did, I'm not sure I'd tell you what she said. I keep Lily's secrets, Al."

"But you'd make sure that whoever it was got what was coming to him, right?"

Rose fixed him with a Look. She couldn't believe he'd even need to ask her that. "Of course."

He settled back into his original position, pleased with her reassurance. Rose's gaze travelled up to the clock above the mantelpiece, and she swore loudly as she realized what the time was.

"Shit!"

Al swivelled again, a question in his bright green eyes as Rose jumped to her feet and wobbled on one leg while she attempted to slip her shoes back on.

"What's the matter?"

"I told Malachi I'd meet him at the astronomy tower in fifteen minutes."

His forehead wrinkled in disapproval. "Rose…"

She sighed. "Don't start, Al."

"I just don't think you should be sneaking out to meet some guy at this time of night. I mean, God knows what you'll be doing, if you're caught."

"I resent that. I'm not some slut."

"Well, then, why do you put on a big front that you are?" he challenged. His question caught her off guard, and Rose found herself feeling suddenly stupid. She didn't really give off that impression, did she?

Instead of answering him, she merely turned on one heel and made her way over to the portrait hole. Before she could vanish through it, she heard his quiet voice once more.

"Be careful, Rosie."

* * *

Miraculously, Rose made it up to the astronomy tower with ten minutes to spare, and without running into miserly old Filch or his wretched cat. She must've used up her luck quota for the evening, because, while she had made it up there early and undetected, Malachi was nowhere to be found.

The view from the top of the tower was beautiful. The entirety of the grounds could be seen from this vantage point, from the canopy of foliage covering the dense mysteries of the Forbidden Forest right across to where the glassy lake dipped over the horizon. There was something immeasurably peaceful about Hogwarts from up here. The moonlight leached everything of its vibrant colour, turning it a hundred shades of black and silver. In the darkness, there really was a strong sense of magic in the air.

A smooth, deep voice broke the spell. "Waiting for someone?"

Rose's heart lurched into her throat as she whipped around, certain that a teacher was standing behind her. It appeared, though, that she wasn't about to get into trouble. When she squinted… yep, it was definitely another student who was leaning casually against the wall, arms folded and one leg crossed across the other. She could only make out a tall, lean shadow in the semi-darkness.

"Go away!" Rose hissed, annoyed at the interruption. "This is my spot."

"I don't see your name on it."

She still couldn't discern the speaker's features, but this time, Rose recognised the arrogant lilt of the voice. "Malfoy?" she asked, surprised. "Is that you?"

He stepped forwards, and the moonlight threw his features into sharp relief. His stylishly dishevelled blond hair looked neither gold nor silver in the glow, but some fey colour in between. His grey eyes seemed impossibly bright. Rose took him in with a note of incredulity – she had almost forgotten that Malfoy even existed.

His sordid family past meant that he'd spent his time at Hogwarts – and probably outside of it – on the fringes. People tended to give him a wide berth, as though they expected him to become a Death Eater at any second and avada kedavra everyone in sight. Rose used to feel a little bit sorry for him, but that pity dried up somewhere in her third year. He didn't really help himself much, what with his abrasive lack of social skills and perpetual sarcasm.

"What're you doing up here?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same question. Off for a midnight rendezvous with whoever the new flavour of the week is, are we?"

She felt surprisingly nettled by his derision. "Well, at least I have people who want to spend time with me."

Rather than take offense at her words, Malfoy smirked. He made a show of craning his neck in either direction, as though checking to see if anyone was hiding in one of the shadowy corners. "Funny. Looks to me like there's no one else here."

"He's meeting me in a few minutes," Rose snapped.

"You don't strike me as the kind of girl who likes to be kept waiting." He tilted his head, studying her like she was a particularly interesting specimen in a lab. "Someone special?"

For the first time in months, Rose felt her cheeks burn, but it had more to do with his blatantly disbelieving tone than it did his words. "None of your damn business, Malfoy. Leave me alone."

"Ah, she's blushing. Must be 'the one'." To her utmost horror, he didn't leave. Instead, he walked forwards a few paces to settle himself below the wide window, one leg bent up, his foot resting on the ledge. He draped an arm across his knee casually, still looking at Rose with that twisted amusement. "Who's the lucky guy?"

She clenched her jaw shut with an audible snap. When she spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "Why are you even here?"

He leaned his head back against the wall, like he was planning on sitting there all night. "I come up here sometimes to think. I find that the view's pretty good for when you want to clear your head. It's peaceful. Looking down at the world like this… it's a great way to gain some perspective on things that are bothering you."

It was such a surprisingly honest answer, devoid of his usual snark, that Rose found herself responding. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

"I had a feeling you might." He stared out of the window, and she used the opportunity to study the clean lines of his profile. With a start, Rose realised that he was actually fairly good-looking. His angular features suited him – they gave a harder edge to the prettiness of his full mouth, took away the femininity of his absurdly long eyelashes. Okay, forget good-looking, she decided. He was far too handsome for his own good.

Not that his looks _had_ done him much good. They certainly hadn't won him any friends around Hogwarts. Still, there was something weirdly compelling about him. A sort of dark charisma that made Rose reluctant to drag her eyes away.

She astonished herself, then, by taking a seat on the ledge beside him. His eyes flickered over to her, a brief smirk flitting across his face.

"What did you come up here to get some perspective on, then?" Rose pulled her knees up to her chest as she spoke, swivelling so that she was facing him. She rested her chin on her knees as she waited for his answer.

"I was actually hoping to figure a few things out." A slight frown appeared between his eyebrows. "There's something strange happening at school. I guess it started a few days ago. Have you noticed?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Define 'strange', Malfoy. This is Hogwarts."

"People have been acting out of character. It's not subtle, either – it's instantaneous. Like something has blown a completely different personality into them."

"How would you know if people are acting differently?" Rose asked, employing her usual lack of a verbal filter. "You don't have any friends."

She expected him to flinch, but he didn't. He just turned that mercury grey stare back onto her, wry amusement lurking in his eyes again. "I watch, Rose."

She jumped upon hearing him say her first name. There was something almost… _bewitching_ about the way his tongue wrapped around the sounds. Rose dismissed the ridiculous thought as quickly as it had come. She couldn't afford to be intrigued by Scorpius Malfoy, of all people.

Maybe she was overcompensating, but she packed a hell of a sneer into her next words. "What, like some creepy voyeur?"

He was completely unfazed, yet again. "If that's what you want to believe, I won't stop you."

It took her a second, while she mulled over his words, to realise that she didn't actually believe that. Rose wasn't sure why Malfoy would observe others, but she knew instinctively that it wasn't for some creepy reason. If she had to guess, she'd say… maybe that he was lonely?

_Nah. That couldn't be right_. Malfoy always acted like he was above the rest of them. He couldn't secretly pine for someone to talk to.

"Okay, so you think there's something strange going on?" Rose pressed, attempting to get the topic back on track. "Stranger than usual?"

"It's almost like some sort of spell." His voice was measured, thoughtful. Uncharacteristic, from what she knew of him. But then, she allowed, she didn't really know much about him at all.

"Isn't that a bit of a leap?" she said, but no sooner were the words out of her mouth than Rose remembered the story about Darius flipping out in class that morning. Hadn't she written that off as him falling victim to a curse?

Malfoy was studying her again, and he seemed to realise that she'd answered her own question in her head, because he smiled slightly. "Apparently not."

"So, who's behind it?" Against her better judgement, Rose could feel herself getting reeled in by his theory. She loved a good mystery, and his absorbing demeanour was certainly helping to sell the story.

"That, I don't know," he admitted. "But I intend to find out." He shot her a dry look. "Do you want to help?"

Her immediate answer was yes, but she refrained from giving it right away. She widened her eyes in a picture of faux-innocence. "Why so keen? Why do you even want my help? Is this a get-in-my-knickers thing?"

He sighed slightly, like Rose was trying his patience. Apparently, her flirtatious charms were entirely lost on him. She felt disproportionately disgruntled by that. "For all you waste your talent, Rose, you're twice as smart as everyone else in this school. I want your help, because I think that, if anyone can figure something like this out, it'd be you. Provided that you aren't distracted by a shiny object or a guy."

Again, the backhanded compliment cut her much, much deeper than it should've. Rose didn't know why she cared about his opinion of her, but she couldn't deny that she seemed to. "Well, I'll keep my eye out, when I've got time."

"The school can sleep easy in their beds."

His tone was inflectionless, so she couldn't tell if he was making fun of her or not. She got the feeling that he was, though, and it annoyed her. Beyond the annoyance, there was a stirring of something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Rose?"

A movement behind her caused Rose to look around. Malachi stood in a patch of moonlight, taking in the unlikely scene of her and Malfoy sitting together with raised eyebrows. She jumped up guiltily, though she wasn't exactly sure what she had to feel guilty about.

"Hi! Um, Malfoy was here when I arrived…" she was justifying herself, but again, she wasn't sure why. She could feel Malfoy's eyes on her, and she longed to sneak a peek at his expression, though she couldn't quite bring herself to.

"Okay. Um, do you want to find someplace else to go?" Malachi eyed Malfoy askance, before holding his hand out to Rose. She thought – though she might've been imagining it – that she heard a slight scoff from behind her as she stepped forward and threaded her fingers through Malachi's.

"Sure." Rose beamed up at him, and he beamed back, brown eyes full of flirty sparkle. As an afterthought, she turned back to Malfoy. He had gone back to staring out of the window. "Goodnight, Malfoy."

He didn't even glance in her direction as he said, "Consider what we talked about, Rose. You know where to find me."

And, with those parting words, Rose allowed Malachi to tow her off towards an empty classroom, feeling distinctly more unsettled than she had in as long as she could remember.

* * *

_A.N - This is a revised version of an older draft, because I've decided to take the story in a slightly (not hugely) different direction._

_If any of you are still reading my other stories DITHOT and NYILY, thank you for remaining loyal after I have been a terrible human being and not updated in three months. Rest assured, though, I will post six - that's right, SIX - chapters of each over the Christmas holidays after University exams are over. Maybe more, I don't know, but I definitely have six in the works._

_Much love,_

_PJ _

_x_


End file.
